Training in Oz

[Jimmyob]

Can anyone tell me where the best place to do my 0-CPL training in Australia would be?
I've been looking at Australian Wings Academy and Air Gold Coast. Does anyone have any knowledge of these institutes?
Any opinions on the matter would be great. I'm from the UK btw.

Thanks,
Jim

[ravan]

G'day Jim,
Not sure what avicon knows about Air Gold Coast but doesn't sound like the outfit I know. Maybe he's thinking of Wings Academy.

Definitely not a "sausage factory"; owned and operated by a pair of motivated brothers who care about their customers and run by a young chief pilot who sets very good standards.

The school is attached to a maintenance business and all work is carried out in their shop. They have some of the best kept training aircraft in Australia on line.

IMHO definitely worth a look during your decision process.

[solowflyer]

If I was to do my time again I would go to one of the smaller schools or aero clubs. Also consider the cost of living, the bigger the city the bigger the $$ to live. Bunbury Aero Club in Western Australia, could be a good bet plenty of flying days, close to Perth, good AC and facilities, minimal delays, and a nice place to live. Have you thought about NZ? With the exchange rates as they are could be an even cheaper option for you .Flying with Wakatipu Aero Club in Queenstown would be an amazing experience to learn there although living expenses could be a bit high.

One of the biggest problems with the larger schools is that you are quite often competing for flying time with other students namely overseas cadets from China and India so the average Jo Bloggs usually gets pushed to the back of the Que, these delays can result in more $$ wasted on accommodation waiting around.

Doing a search will reveal a mass of information an most flying schools.

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

Do you have Australian residency or citizenship?

If not there's not a lot of point doing an Aus CPL and trying to "Convert" it. Better to do the PPL, get up to 175 hours, then go back to the UK and do the CPL exams and modular course in the environment you are going to be flying in.

[divinesoul]

Flying with Wakatipu Aero Club in Queenstown would be an amazing experience to learn there although living expenses could be a bit high.

wakatipu aero club doesnt have NZQA approval so he cant obtain a student visa to do 0-CPL.this is nz immigration requirement nothing to do with NZCAA.

[ReverseFlight]

Jimmyob, I am not familiar with either AWA or AGC but by coincidence a friend asked me exactly the same question and my humble opinion was as follows:

Coolangatta Airport (aka Gold Coast Airport) has a primary runway 14/32 and a lot of big jets transporting holiday makers like Virgin Blue take off and land regularly every day on this. There is a secondary runway 17/35 which is 582 metres - I wonder if the flight schools or GA use this one at all because it is rather short (compare say Moorabbin's runways which are 1060 to 1335 metres).

I can see 2 problems. On either runway, GA aircraft may be directed by tower to wait if there are jets landing or after takeoff (due to wake turbulence or other operational factors). The second problem is that 14/32 and 17/35 are crossed runways and there is always a danger of conflict. I also understand from ERSA that there are restrictions on circuit training at that airport due to jet traffic.

I were to have a choice of location for ab-initio training, I would try to learn at a smaller, quieter airport which has little or no restrictions on circuit training but with access to controlled airspace. Note that landing fees tend to be more expensive at RPT airports than smaller regional airports. Besides, sitting at the holding point awaiting takeoff clearance means unnecessary time charges are being incurred while you wait without any additional benefit.

Just my 2 cents worth - I stand to be corrected by fellow Ppruners.

[Wizofoz]

Jimmy,

Got to go with CFI here- What do you intend to do with the license? If you intend to return and fly in Europe then:-

1) It is difficult and expensive to convert an Australian CPL to a JAR one, and

2) A JAR CPL is of little use once you have one!!

If you are heading for a career in Flying in Europe, you should be looking at getting a frozen JAR ATPL.

I believe there is a school in WA that has JAR approval, can anyone confirm this?

[Jimmyob]

Thanks for all your replys.

Some very useful points. The course i was looking at was based at AWA as in my post above. It's a CPL/IR MEC with frozen ATPL this is an Australian licence obviously.

What do you reckon is worth doing and converting - if anything at all? If it's just a matter of cost a few thousand £'s isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

My only problem with going to a small flight school is i'll be going all the way from the UK and although i know people out there they're unlikely to be where i'm based so there's a potential for not really meeting many people in a smaller school.

I dont have Australian citizenship no, but could try and marry someone...

Another option is to do my CPL/IR etc leave the ATPL and come back to the UK convert and do my ATPL APP FO training at Oxford Aviation. Bad or good idea?

And if anyone's wondering why i dont just do the whole lot in the UK from scratch, aside from cost, i'd just prefer to do my flying somewhere i can appreciate it a bit more. Having done a little bit when i was younger the english weather really got on my nerves.

Sorry for the long post, i hope someone can help me!

Jimmy

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

No such thing as a frozen ATPL here. You either have one,or you don't. So not sure what they were selling you there!

What is worth doing in Aus is the PPL and hour building up to 175. Do the rest modular where you are going to be working. Don't bother with the Australian CPL/IR and then "converting" as you will need to do most of it again over there, and quite rightly, it's a completely different environment, chalk and cheese.

I know this because I hold have flown commercially in UK, Europe and Australia.

That way your hour building can be combined with the holiday of a lifetime before getting down to the hard slog and REAL bad weather!

[mohammad]

My advice DON'T go to this school they make you feel welcome at the start then a living hell. Its all about MONEY in this place and takes a student from 0 to GFPT about 6months +. A hell to book flights as they are too busy due to student instructor ratio. Promise alot of things such as a jet which will never come, and their new flying school at Gunnedah for the airline cadets. Air Asia cadets will be starting in July so they will have first preference over any other students. Simulator is rubbish Although the commercial ground theory is done by 2 excellent very experienced theory instructors only thing i can say good about this place.

The young CFI is a :mad:head and very biased.

[flying-spike]

I recommend this outfit for a number of reasons:

Proximity to traffic. Get immersed in ATC and jet traffic so you are used to it by the time you go out into the big wide world.
Good instructors, very good ATO
Very good simulator when you into the more advanced training
Reasonable rates (and I did shop around)
Great location (with a YHA youth hostel a 5 min walk away), close to beaches and nightlife.
Training area to the south
Well maintained fleet
Not a sausage factory.I did my instrument rating renewal there a month or so ago and highly recommend them.